Summer

I have my camera and tripod set up in the dark, just waiting for the first light of dawn to paint Pentwater Lake with dawn's blue light during a time exposure. I make several test shots before the moored sailboats all have drifted into picture-perfect positions. F8 at 10 seconds, ISO 400, 24-70mm lens at 62mm

One day a sand dune can appear smooth as glass; the next day the wind can create rows of sand. Nothing remains constant with sand dunes. Only the camera freezes the time.

I keep trying to edit this picture out. I enjoyed making the picture of the riveted keel of a rental boat on the Hamlin Lake shoreline at Ludington State Park. I like the resulting image, yet I did not feel comfortable with including it in this book. My son and shooting partner, Brad, loves the image. He sees abstract pictures almost everywhere he looks and shoots many of them. Getting out of your comfort zone can be uncomfortably good. So the picture stays.

My dad and I have hiked several miles today carrying our heavy telephoto lenses, full camera bags, and tripods all over Isle Royale hoping to get a photograph of a wild Michigan moose. Unfortunately, we never saw a moose, but we did find some wonderful views on our adventure. On our way back to our room at the main lodge, we explored Suzy's Cave. My dad photographed inside the cave and I climbed to the top and photographed the grand view from above.

Bonfire and Music on Stearns Beach

Little Sable Lit Up

While several of our photography workshop students were working to create strong, unique images at a sunflower field along M-22 near Onekama, a surprise visitor completed my composition.

Flying Ashore by Todd Reed As I was heading back to our photography gallery in downtown Ludington after lunch today, I observed a segment of very dark clouds high in the sky to the west. I drove quickly to the west end of Ludington Avenue, grabbed by camera out of the back of my Suburban and sprinted up a nearby sand dune at shore’s edge. A fast-moving rain (and hail as it turned out later) storm was headed ashore. I noticed that a powerful-looking portion of the clouds looked like a gigantic bird. I knew instantly that needed to be my focus. I made several shots with my Nikon D850 and a few with my iPhone. The rain was picking up and thunder and lightning were getting closer. I scrambled down the dune and back to my vehicle, beating the downpour of rain and hail by just a couple minutes. Gotta love a good storm front! Nikon D850. F10 at 1/100, ISO 400. 14-24mm lens at 14mm. On a tripod without a flash. September 20, 2022 at 1:18pm.

Carferry and Ludington Light

Rays of Hope

After an incredibly long and hard day of hiking and shooting photographs on Isle Royale, at around 11:30 p.m., my dad and I decided to take a chance and make the short hike to Tobin Harbor to see if the northern lights were out. To our surprise, we could see them as soon as we got onto the seaplane docks. We needed to set up quickly to ensure we got good images before midnight so we could use them in our new Wednesdays book. I knew from past experience I needed a 15-minute exposure. Multiple loons and at least two moose were calling back and forth over the water.

Badger In The Mist

O.K. It's really a Baltimore Oriole. But since it was residing in Ludington State Park, and since my three sons and I were Ludington Orioles during high school, I have taken some editorial license. The colorful songbird had probably recently returned from the south when I came upon him in mid-May on the Island Trail.

Our workshop students were up to their waists in dewy grasses before sunrise and many of them were on their knees getting their cameras immediate to the wildflowers, grasses and weeds in a field near our Pere Marquette River property. I got down low beside them to immerse myself in the tapestry of spring growth. Six a.m. never looked better to me.

 I had planned a weekend trip to Munising, to travel and shoot the surrounding area waterfalls. While the weather was challenging for most of the trip because of down pouring rain, it helped bring out the intense green that only a spring rain can do! Miners falls had been on my bucket list to visit, and I had finally made the journey. Upon my arrival, I quickly realized that there was nothing Miner about it! Now, it is one of my favorite falls to visit. The hike through the woods to get to the falls is incredible in itself.

Ludington Fireworks

Fritz at Bass Lake Outlet

Ludington Fireworks

Brad and I put on another of our annual photography tips programs at Big Sable Lighthouse this evening and within a half-hour of its conclusion nearly everyone is gone. Brad and his daughter Julia head up to the top of the light to check out the view from the top while I stay below and wait for the sweet light. Here it is! F16.0 at 1/6, ISO 100, 12-24 mm lens at 24 mm